In 1977, Bragg formed the punk rock/pub rock band Riff Raff, and toured London's pubs and clubs. The band released a series of singles, which did not receive wide exposure. He also worked in Guy Norris Records in Barking. Bragg became disillusioned with his music career, and in May 1981 joined the British Army as a recruit destined for the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars of the Royal Armoured Corps. After three months, he bought his way out of the army for £175 and returned home, having attended basic training but having never served in a regiment as a soldier.
Bragg began performing frequent concerts and busking around London, playing solo with an electric guitar. His roadie at the time was Andy Kershaw, who became a BBC DJ (Bragg and Kershaw later, in 1989, appeared in an episode of the BBC TV programme, Great Journeys, in which they travelled the Silver Road from Potosí, Bolivia, to the Pacific coast at Arica, Chile). Bragg performing at South by Southwest in 2008.
Bragg's demo tape initially got no response from the record industry, but by pretending to be a television repair man, he got into the office of Charisma Records' A&R man Peter Jenner. Jenner liked the tape, but the company was near bankruptcy and had no budget to sign new artists. Bragg got an offer to record more demos for a music publisher, so Jenner agreed to release them as a record. Life's a Riot with Spy Vs. Spy was released in July 1983 by Charisma's new imprint, Utility. Hearing DJ John Peel mention on-air that he was hungry, Bragg rushed to the BBC with a mushroom biryani, so Peel played a song from Life's a Riot with Spy Vs. Spy although at the wrong speed (since the 12" LP was, unconventionally, cut to play at 45rpm). Peel insisted he would have played the song even without the biryani and later played it at the correct speed.
Within months, Charisma had been taken over by Virgin Records and Jenner, who had been laid off, became Bragg's manager. Stiff Records' press officer Andy Macdonald – who was setting up his own record label, Go! Discs – received a copy of Life's a Riot with Spy Vs. Spy. He made Virgin an offer and the album was re-released on Go! Discs in November 1983.[citation needed] In 1984, he released Brewing Up with Billy Bragg, a mixture of political songs (e.g., "It Says Here") and songs of unrequited love (e.g., "The Saturday Boy"). The following year he released Between the Wars, an EP of political songs that included a cover version of Leon Rosselson's "The World Turned Upside Down" – the EP made the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart and earned Bragg an appearance on Top of the Pops. Bragg later collaborated with Rosselson on the song, "Ballad of the Spycatcher". In 1985, his song "A New England", with an additional verse, became a Top 10 hit in the UK for Kirsty MacColl. After MacColl's early death, Bragg always sang the extra verse in her honour. In 1984–1985 he toured North America.
In 1986, Bragg released Talking with the Taxman about Poetry, which became his first Top 10 album. Its title is taken from a poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky and a translated version of the poem was printed on the record's inner sleeve. Back to Basics is a 1987 collection of his first three releases: Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy, Brewing Up with Billy Bragg, and the Between The Wars EP. Bragg released his fourth album, Workers Playtime, in September 1988. With this album, Bragg added a backing band and accompaniment.
In May 1990, Bragg released the political mini-LP, The Internationale. The songs were, in part, a return to his solo guitar style, but some songs featured more complicated arrangements and included a brass band. The album paid tribute to one of Bragg's influences with the song, "I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night", which is an adapted version of Earl Robinson's song, "I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night", itself an adaptation of a poem by Alfred Hayes.
The album Don't Try This at Home was released in September 1991, and included the song, "Sexuality", which reached the UK Singles Chart. Bragg had been persuaded by Go! Discs' Andy and Juliet Macdonald to sign a four-album deal with a million pound advance, and a promise to promote the album with singles and videos.[citation needed] This gamble was not rewarded with extra sales, and the situation put the company in financial difficulty. In exchange for ending the contract early and repaying a large amount of the advance, Bragg regained all rights to his back catalogue.[citation needed] Bragg continued to promote the album with his backing band, The Red Stars, which included his Riff Raff colleague and long-time roadie, Wiggy.
Bragg released the album William Bloke in 1996 after taking time off to help raise his son. Around that time, Nora Guthrie (daughter of American folk artist Woody Guthrie) asked Bragg to set some of her father's unrecorded lyrics to music. The result was a collaboration with the band Wilco and Natalie Merchant (with whom Bragg had worked previously). They released the album Mermaid Avenue in 1998, and Mermaid Avenue Vol. II in 2000. A rift with Wilco over mixing and sequencing the album led to Bragg recruiting his own band, The Blokes, to promote the album. The Blokes included keyboardist Ian McLagan, who had been a member of Bragg's boyhood heroes The Faces. The documentary film Man in the Sand depicts the roles of Nora Guthrie, Bragg, and Wilco in the creation of the Mermaid Avenue albums.
In 2004, Bragg joined Florida ska-punk band Less Than Jake to perform a version of 'The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out' for the Rock Against Bush compilation.
At the 2005 Beautiful Days Festival in Devon, Bragg teamed up with the Levellers to perform a short set of songs by or associated with The Clash in celebration of Joe Strummer's birthday. Bragg performed guitar and lead vocals on "Police and Thieves", and performed guitar and backing vocals on "English Civil War", and "Police on my Back".
In 2007, Bragg moved closer to his English folk music roots by joining the WOMAD-inspired collective The Imagined Village, who recorded an album of updated versions of traditional English songs and dances and toured through that autumn. Bragg released his album Mr. Love & Justice in March 2008. This was the second Bragg album to be named after a book by Colin MacInnes. In 2008, during the NME Awards ceremony, Bragg sang a duet with British solo act Kate Nash. They mixed up their two greatest hits, Nash playing "Foundations", and Bragg redoing his "A New England". Bragg also collaborated with the poet and playwright, Patrick Jones, who supported Bragg's Tour.
In 2008, Bragg played a small role in Stuart Bamforth's film "A13: Road Movie". Bragg is featured alongside union reps, vicars, burger van chefs and Members of Parliament in a film that explored "the overlooked, the hidden and the disregarded."
He was involved in the play Pressure Drop at the Wellcome Collection in London in April and May 2010. The production, written by Mick Gorden, and billed as "part play, part gig, part installation", featured new songs by Bragg. He performed during the play with his band, and acted as compere.
Bragg curated the Leftfield stage at Glastonbury Festival 2010.
He took part in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project Sixty Six where he has written a piece based upon a chapter of the King James Bible.
Bragg performed a set of the Guthrie songs that he had set to music for Mermaid Avenue during the Hay Literary Festival in June 2012. Mermaid Avenue Vol. III and Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions were also released in early 2012.
On 18 March 2013, Bragg released his latest studio album, five years since Mr. Love & Justice, titled Tooth And Nail. It featured 11 original songs, including one written for the Bush Theatre, and a Woody Guthrie cover. Stylistically, it continues to explore genres of Americana (music) and Alternative country, both of which he has said he has been playing and writing regularly since Mermaid Avenue (1998).
In November 2017, he released all six tracks from the mini-album Bridges Not Walls as downloads and CD through the Billy Bragg website and other sellers, followed by the single Full English Brexit through Cooking Vinyl.
The Busy Girl Buys Beauty
Billy Bragg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The pretty girl buys style
And the simple girl
Buys what she's told to buy
And sees her world
Through the brightly lit eyes of the glossy romance of fashion
Where she can learn top tips for the gas cook
Successful secrets of a sexual kind
And the truth about pain
What was Anna Ford wearing?
What did Angela Rippon say?
What will you do when you wake up one morning
To find that god's made you plain
In a beautiful person's world?
And all those quick recipes have let you down
And you're twenty and half and not yet engaged
Will you go look for the boy who says
I love you let's get married and have kids
The busy girl buys beauty
The pretty girl buys style
And the simple girl
Buys what she's told to buy
And sees her world
Through the brightly lit eyes of the glossy romance of fashion
Where she can learn top tips for the gas cook
Successful secrets of a sexual kind
The daily drill for beautiful hair
In a mail order paradise
In Billy Bragg's song "The Busy Girl Buys Beauty," the lyrics construct a critique of consumerism and societal pressures on women to conform to specific beauty standards. The first verse juxtaposes busy, pretty, and simple girls, highlighting how their purchases shape their image and the world they inhabit. Busy girls aim to buy beauty, whereas pretty girls buy style, and simple girls buy what they are told to buy. These girls' world is one where the glossy romance of fashion dominates, offering them tips for cooking, secrets for sex, daily hair routines, and insights on pain. This world is one where the reality of aging, relationships, and social status intersect, as media present diverse images that prompt questions like "What was Anna Ford wearing?" and "What will you do when you wake up one morning to find that God's made you plain in a beautiful person's world?"
As the song progresses, the chorus repeats, emphasizing how girls are trapped in a cycle of perpetual consumerism. They depend on the media to shape their identities and desires, submitting to the limitations of beauty standards and the politics behind it. In the second verse, the lyrics depict a sense of loss, as girls have tried to conform but failed to achieve their dreams. They encounter feelings of disillusionment and despair, questioning the promise of quick recipes and mail-order paradises. They question their life choices and wonder whether finding love, starting a family, and achieving happiness are possible in a world where quick-fix solutions and beauty standards dominate.
"The Busy Girl Buys Beauty" highlights the power of media and consumerism over women's lives, showing how they are trapped in a cultural system that manipulates their desires, expectations, and self-image. The song urges listeners to be critical of what they consume and how they define their identity in a world shaped by consumer culture.
Line by Line Meaning
The busy girl buys beauty
The girl who is constantly occupied with work and life responsibilities invests money in the pursuit of their definition of beauty.
The pretty girl buys style
The attractive girl spends money on fashionable clothing and accessories in order to maintain or enhance their personal aesthetic.
And the simple girl
Meanwhile, the girl who doesn't care much for material possessions or trends, is content with the bare essentials.
Buys what she's told to buy
This type of girl is easily influenced by the media and marketing to purchase items deemed necessary or 'must haves' for their demographic.
And sees her world
Her perspective on the world revolves around the glamour and excitement presented in advertisements, magazines and media in general.
Through the brightly lit eyes of the glossy romance of fashion
Her mind is saturated with the idealized concept of beauty presented in fashion magazines that overshadows her own definition of it.
Where she can learn top tips for the gas cook
The girl with mild interest in cooking can quickly pick up tips and tricks from these magazines and blogs that take mundane activities to another level.
Successful secrets of a sexual kind
Such magazines also provide sex advice, information and other related topics that are considered taboo in some sections of society.
The daily drill for beautiful hair
Magazines like these promise great hair through specific and lengthy routines which often require specific big-brand products.
And the truth about pain
These same sources offer solutions to skin problems with often chemical laced solutions and seemingly unattainable results - to worsen the problem rather than solve it.
What was Anna Ford wearing?
This is a rhetorical question as it is used to point out how the media obsessively scrutinizes celebrities and their fashion.
What did Angela Rippon say?
This is yet another pointless media question asked to note how inconsequential they are.
What will you do when you wake up one morning
A hypothetical question presented to the listener to consider the unimaginable possibility that they might not wake up one day looking the way that society has conditioned them to see as 'beautiful'.
To find that god's made you plain
A reference to the Biblical creation of humans in God's image, it suggests that everyone is created equal without physical distinctions that are overtly appealing.
In a beautiful person's world?
It is a rhetorical question directed at the listener to think about how the world is dominated by a standard that is far removed from reality.
And all those quick recipes have let you down
This line is used to show how the expectations created in magazines are often too unrealistic as the reader finds themselves unable to replicate what the magazines promise.
And you're twenty and a half and not yet engaged
This phrase underlines the ageist and sexist obsession of western society where fewer accomplishments and a more physically presentable version of oneself is often frowned upon.
Will you go look for the boy who says, I love you let's get married and have kids
The line is meant to signify the comfort and security of traditional patriarchal roles and expectations, albeit mundane and predictable, never fail to dull the realities of life down.
In a mail order paradise
Mail-order catalogues full of flawless photos promised a utopian lifestyle pre-internet era.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Billy Bragg
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
slint69
The busy girl buys beauty
The pretty girl buys style
And the simple girl buys
What she's told to buy
And sees her world
Through the brightly lit eyes
Of the glossy romance of fashion
Where she can learn...
Top tips for the gas cook
Successful secrets of a sexual kind
The daily drill for beautiful hair
And the truth about pain
What was Anna Ford wearing?
What did Angela Rippon say?
What will you do
When you wake up one morning
To find that God's made you plain
In a beautiful person's world?
And all those quick recipes
Have let you down
And you're 20½ and not yet engaged
Will you go look for the boy who says
I love you let's get married and have kids
The busy girl buys beauty
The pretty girl buys style
And the simple girl buys
What she's told to buy
Through the brightly lit eyes
Of the glossy romance of fashion
Where she can learn...
Top tips for the gas cook
Successful secrets of a sexual kind
The daily drill for beautiful hair
In a mail order paradise...
Diana Rhodes
Absolute class act. I still have the cassette, as well. It never gets old.
em o
I brought this EP in 1983 when I was 16. Still love it.
Tim
Love this album!!!
Redbug 3
One of the Best!
John Peel
What a classic !!
Diane Scott
Never gets old
slint69
The busy girl buys beauty
The pretty girl buys style
And the simple girl buys
What she's told to buy
And sees her world
Through the brightly lit eyes
Of the glossy romance of fashion
Where she can learn...
Top tips for the gas cook
Successful secrets of a sexual kind
The daily drill for beautiful hair
And the truth about pain
What was Anna Ford wearing?
What did Angela Rippon say?
What will you do
When you wake up one morning
To find that God's made you plain
In a beautiful person's world?
And all those quick recipes
Have let you down
And you're 20½ and not yet engaged
Will you go look for the boy who says
I love you let's get married and have kids
The busy girl buys beauty
The pretty girl buys style
And the simple girl buys
What she's told to buy
Through the brightly lit eyes
Of the glossy romance of fashion
Where she can learn...
Top tips for the gas cook
Successful secrets of a sexual kind
The daily drill for beautiful hair
In a mail order paradise...
Geekman333
Billy helped my Socialism come of age. Greetings from Australia.
Morgan Ahoff
I just remember it's the only song on the album that fades out at the end...
Diane Scott
Class